NSO Group has exploited Apple vulnerabilities to disguise itself
as Gmail, Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, the Red Cross, CNN, Al Jazeera and the
Pokemon Company to create malicious links.

In
Israeli company that is a world leader in cyber warfare was found to help
governments hack the iPhones of activists and journalists, including the United
Arab Emirates, Mexico and likely Turkey, Israel, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Hungary
and others.

Citizen
Lab and Lookout found that the company, NSO Group, has exploited Apple
vulnerabilities to disguise itself as Gmail, Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, the Red
Cross, CNN, Al Jazeera and the Pokemon Company to create malicious links.

Once a
target clicks on the link, the company can read messages, record sounds, track
locations and collect passwords.

Ahmed
Mansoor, a human rights activist from the UAE, received a text message with one
of the links and showed it to Citizen Lab. Mansoor had been victim of cyber
attacks twice before.

Further
investigation revealed that Mexican journalist Rafael Cabrera was also targeted
by NSO Group after investigating Enrique Peña Nieto’s family. The resulting
report cited other attacks linked back to the company, including in Kenya,
Turkey and Qatar.

NSO
Group, which is now owned by San Francisco-based private equity firm Francisco
Partners Management LLC, wrote to the New York Times: “The company sells only
to authorized governmental agencies, and fully complies with strict export
control laws and regulations.” The spokesman said that its customers use its
software lawfully.

After
Citizen Lab informed Apple of the vulnerabilities, it released a new secure
version of iOS 9.3.5 and encouraged users to update it. The version may not be
safe from other vulnerabilities found by the FBI, which did not disclose them
to Apple.

“The
targeting of these activists and dissidents is a taste of what’s to come,”
Citizen Lab researcher Bill Marczak told the New York Times. “What they’re
facing today will be faced by ordinary users tomorrow.”

"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs